December 2011 Archives

A drunk passenger of a vehicle caused who caused a car accident on 1-94 last spring is facing criminal charges, according to WCCO.

Mollie Lenzi was celebrating her birthday in St. Paul with three friends, one of which was the designated driver, according to WCCO.

On the drive home, Lenzi grabbed the steering wheel and turned it resulting in the car crashing into the median, according to the police report.

The driver broke a few ribs and Lenzi also went to the hospital, according to WCCO.

The trooper who talked to Lenzi at the hospital noted that her eyes were bloodshot, and watery, her speech was slurred and he could smell alcohol, according to WCCO.

Lenzi's blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit, according to WCCO.

"The statute regarding DWI clearly states that a person only needs to be in physical control of the vehicle," police told WCCO. "In this particular case, that physical control was the passenger grabbing the steering wheel and causing that vehicle to crash."

The charges against Lenzi are only allegations at this point, Lenzi's lawyer told WCCO.

Four junior high students were burned and sent to the hospital Friday morning after working with a flammable gas in their science class.

The cause of the fire at Maple Grove Junior High School is still being investigated but some students claimed it had to do with methane gas, according to Kare 11.

The fire was put out with a fire extinguisher and fire coat before fire fighters arrived, according to the school district.

The four injured students were taken to HCMC, according to Kare 11.

Parents received an automated message after the fire to inform them on the incident, according to Kare 11.

"When they said gas I was concerned about that because even if my child wasn't burned, the gas fumes because she has asthma..." said Seretha Lee, mother of a Maple Grove Junior High Student. "I wanted to make sure she was properly cared for."

Lee told Kare 11 that she had left work when she heard about the fire to go see her daughter.

The fire was able to be contained in the one class room and there is no damage to the classroom, according to a district spokesperson.

The condition of the student who still remains in the hospital with more severe burns than the others is still unknown, according to Kare 11.

Abercrombie & Fitch has pushed the limits even further than before with their new marketing for the Holiday season.

Holiday shoppers at West End in St. Louis Park told Kare 11 that the picture is "compromising," "trashy," and "not appropriate."

"It's going a little bit beyond the edge," John Marinovich, CEO of AB Group One, told Kare 11. "This type of buzz, talk value, is huge for this brand."

In the past decade, news outlets across the nation have reported on the controversy of Abercrombie & Fitch, according to Kare 11.

"I don't think it's appropriate," said Patrick Williams, a holiday shopper at West End. "I mean, you can market clothes and sell clothes without being that edgy."

According to a Wall Street Journal article, sales have jumped 21% last quarter compared to last year, as told by Kare 11.

"I'm not sure that there isn't a little more cache to young people for having their parents not like the brand," Marinovich said addressing why Abercrombie & Fitch thrives. "So you could either ban your children from buying clothes there or put them in private school with uniforms."

Britain is currently undergoing one of the biggest walkouts in UK history, according to CNN's American Morning segment.

After a brief introduction, the anchor hands the story off to Erin McLaughlin outside of St. Thomas hospital in London who claims to be among the protestors, but really there is a small peaceful huddle of people behind her consisting of maybe 15 people. This is extremely jolting because the b-roll used to introduce the topic is of the actual violence and chaotic riots that have been going on, and then there is an abrupt cut to basically a quiet scene outside of a hospital.

About 400,000 people are on strike because the government is proposing a plan for more public sector workers to increase their contributions to pensions, according to McLaughlin.

Chris Remmington, a union leader, tells McLaughlin that the money [the public sector workers] have invested in their pensions is being wasted and that he believes all of their benefits will be taken from them.

Remmington claims the public sector workers are being "robbed blind," as told to McLaughlin.

Currently, hospitals are only offering limited services and the ambulances are working in emergency-only situations, Remmington told McLaughlin.

The segment ends with McLaughlin quickly stating the government's side, which is that British people are living longer lives and therefore need to start investing more money into their pensions.